RIPR News

3:26 pm

Fri September 14, 2001

Local News Roundup

Rhode islanders will be marking today as a national day of prayer for the victims of Tuesday?s terrorist attacks at noon. Bells will be rung statewide and Governor Almond is urging employers to allow workers to attend services.

State leaders including the governor, Attorney General Sheldon Whitehouse and members of the state house and senate are hosting a vigil at 8 pm on the statehouse lawn.

Planes are once again flying in and out of T.F. Green Airport but with stricter security procedures in place officials say passengers should expect delays and arrive three hours before their scheduled flight times.

Logan Airport is telling all airlines to tell passengers not to show up until the airport officially opens. The airport is still waiting for federal security clearance a few passengers showed up this morning after airlines erroneously told them that flights would be leaving.

Nine medical personnel from the naval station in Newport are in New York to help out following Tuesday?s attack. They join 21 doctors, nurses and Red Cross volunteers from the Rhode Island disaster medical assistance team who arrived in Manhattan yesterday.

Firefighters from Warwick, Pawtucket, Bristol, Newport and other cities have been either called to New York or are waiting on standby. Yesterday 13 firemen from East Providence left for the city.

In Providence, the Rhode Island Blood Center is still welcoming donations even though New York has all the blood it needs right now. The immediate need for blood has been met because there have been so few survivors, but officials say blood is needed to replenish the supplies sent to New York.

Middletown's striking school teachers and the school district are due in Newport County Superior Court this morning. They met for five hours yesterday but failed to come to an agreement to end the 11-day strike. The judge has said he'll likely order the teachers back to work.

The state health department is advising some residents of North Kingstown to boil their water. Officials have found traces of E-coli bacteria in the public water supply. Water supplies in Saunderstown, Slocum and the Rhode Island Port Authority are not included in the advisory.

In a separate development, the federal Environmental Protection Agency has awarded $3.7 million to improve drinking water in Rhode Island.